| Evenings On A Farm Near Dikanka [Ru] | Step Creative Group / 1C | 2005 | |
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Everyone in Russia has read, or were introduced in school, to Nikolai Gogol's short story collection "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka". The Ukrainian-born Russian writer lived in the first half of the 19th century and is considered by many to be the father of modern Russian literature. These stories are very popular in Russia and served as a basis for operas by Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and others. This is a retelling of the Christmas Eve story but includes elements of several other short stories from the Dikanka collection. It is set in a timeless 'old Ukraine', a world that is both mystical, magical, and realistic. In some ways Gogol's stories resemble Greek myths whose protagonists are titans and gods and beings with all sorts of supernatural powers, yet their behavior is entirely human. In Dikanka you will encounter witches, undead (including a vampire), a rusalka, a leshi, a domovoi, and even one denizen of Hell makes a personal appearance. Yet all characters, including the magical ones, have human troubles and desires. The hero of the story is purely human. His name is Vakula and he's the blacksmith in the village of Dikanka. He is an extremely solidly built fellow, very skilled smith and also painter of icons; he's very good-natured and helpful, perhaps not too bright but not stupid either, and very much in love with Dikanka's most beautiful girl, Oksana. As everyone knows, women are trouble - and Oksana is no exception. At a whim, she gives Vakula an impossible task: she promises to marry him as soon as he brings her the same slippers (Cherevichki - also a name of Tchaikovsky's opera based on this story) that the empress is wearing. Or at least, a rational person might think such task impossible. Not so Vakula. He is undaunted by the fact that Dikanka is thousand miles far from Saint Petersburg where the empress lives, or that a simple village blacksmith doesn't stand much chance of getting an audience with her. Full of optimism, Vakula sets out on his quest to get the slippers. It is the middle of winter (Christmas Eve in fact) and all roads are under several feet of snow. No problem - after running a few seemingly random errands for the villagers (I said Vakula was very helpful), Vakula finds out that the quickest way to get to Saint Petersburg is flying on the devil's back. A devil is never too far, so finding one is not an issue. The fact that the devil wants Vakula's soul in exchange is. | ||
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